Ski binding



May 26, 1970 J. 1. BACCHESCHI 3,514,118

SKI BINDING Filed May 29, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JcSEP/vlfinccfissan KMW'L Wis 2 Tron NE/V May 26, 1970 J. I. BACCHESCHI SKIBINDING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 29. 1968 INVENTOR se P/LZBfiCCf/ESCH/ 74/3 AZTYoF United States Patent 3,514,118 SKI BINDINGJoseph I. Baccheschi, 30 Brook St., Torrington, Conn. 06790 Filed May29, 1968, Ser. No. 740,806 Int. Cl. A63c 9/081 US. Cl. 280-11.35 4Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to ski bindingsin which both ski boot toe and heel engaging units include springpressed members for holding both toe and heel to the ski, both units aresubject to release by vertical forces in excess of their respectivespring pressures and the toe unit is also adapted for release throughtorsional stress applied thereto in excess of the holding power of thetoe piece locking mechanism, said toe piece embodying a pivoted memberfor horizontal swinging movement with respect to the ski.

The object of this invention is to provide a safety binding thatproperly holds the ski boot to the ski. Both the toe and heel memberspress down and in On the toe and heel of the boot sole to eliminate anyloose relationship between the boot and ski.

A further object is to provide a binding of the characte described inwhich the heel binding is operably engaged from a vertical position byapplication of the ski pole spike to a rockable member.

Another object is to provide a device of the character described inwhich spring pressed members in both heel and toe members areindividually subject to predetermined adjustment.

The tensions of the several springs are set by compressing same to thedesired degree and locking them at that setting so that force applied tosaid springs'will overcome the force thereof'and the boot will bereleased by vertical or horizontal pressure against the heel and toepiece due to a sudden force applied thereto which causes same todisengage from the boot.

A further object is to provide a device of the character described inwhich the ski boot may be attached to the ski by compressing the heelunit spring by means of the ski pole in connection with a swingablemember abutting one end of the spring.

A further object is to provide a swivel mechanism in the toe piece whicheliminates the necessity of forward or backward movement of either thetoe or heel unit to engage the ski boot.

There are many advantages to my invention in that there are no notches,cams, arms, levers, cables, straps, plates or cleats to catch or hinderthe safety operation of the binding.

Further, the binding will fit the right or left boot interchangeably sothat the skiis can be interchanged.

While it is contemplated that the toe and heel bind ings be usedtogether, it is possible that either can be used with a toe and heelbinding having different characteristics.

The ski engaging portions of the toe and heel units are of the sameconfiguration, which is an asset in the manufacture of same, and theymay be set and mounted on the ski with the same jig so that there is nochance of same moving out of adjustment.

A practical embodiment of my invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of my device attached to a ski, the swingingmotion of the toe piece being shown in dotted lines, as is the schematicrepresentation of the ski boot in its swung positions.

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- FIG. 2 is a side view on a large scale of the toe piece of FIG. 1partly broken away.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the form shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 on the samescale as FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is the back or heel piece representing same in side elevation,the motion of some of the parts being represented in dotted lines, and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the device shown in FIG. 4, both FIGS. 4and 5 being on the same scale as FIGS. 2 and 3.

As illustrated in the drawings, a section of a ski is denoted by 1 and,aflixed thereto in predetermined location, are toe piece base 2B and theheel piece 3. These normally fit over or engage the sole of a ski boot 4at toe and heel as shown in FIG. 1.

The toe piece 2 is provided with a base plate 2B to which the piece 2 ispivoted by a pivot 28 and said base plate 2B is affixed to the ski 1 bymeans of screws denoted collectively by 5.

The toe piece 2 is normally provided with an arcuate toe engagingsegment 7 curved or shaped, as clearly seen in FIG. 3. Toe engagingpiece 7 is secured to a rota table or swingable block 9 by a screw 25 orit may be formed integral with said block. The rotatable block 9carrying the element 7 is pivoted on a pin 10, which pin is journalledin the ears 11 and 12 rising from the portion 2 of the toe piece unit.Said block 9 may or may not be provided with a top hole 13 to take a skipole spike which acts as a lever to swing block 9. The opposite end ofthe toe unit is provided with a vertical end piece 14 which is cut outat 22 to accommodate one end of a rod 15 and to provide an abutment fora spring 16 which surrounds rod 15 and is compressed thereon by a nut 17threaded on 15.

Block 9 is provided with a recess 23 to accommodate the opposite end ofrod 15 and said rod end is pinned therein by pin 24.

Vertical end piece 14 is bored to accommodate a releasable lock meanscomprising a spring pressed ball 18, spring 19 and a set'screw20 forcompressingthe spring against the ball. It will be noted that the latterprojects slightly through element 2 into a depression 30 in base plate2B to releasably hold the toe piece elements in normal operatingposition.

Screw 20 is tapped into piece 14 and is provided with a lock nut 21 tomount same in its desired adjusted position as the holding power of theball 18 depends on the pressure set on spring 19.

In order to limit the vertical rotative movement of the block 9 whichcarries the element 7, I provide a set screw 26 and its nut 27immediately below element 7, as shown in FIG. 2.

With respect to the heel piece or unit 3, the arcuate heel engagingsegment is denoted by 8, and this may be formed integral with orattached to a rockable base 30 by a screw 34. Base 30 is provided withtop hole 31 adapted to receive the spike end of a ski pole (not shown)to rock same and said hole 31 is normally provided with a protectivecover 32 pivoted on element 30 at 33, as shown in FIG. 4 to keep samefree of snow, ice or other foreign material.

A rod 35 is seated in a recess 45 in a vertical end piece 44 of element3, which element is normally attached to the ski by screws denotedcollectively by 6. These screws are seated in pairs of slots 42 and 43-for initial adjustment of the unit longitudinally with respect to theski.

The opposite end of rod 35 is pivoted at 38 in a cut-out portion 49 ofpiece 30.

The swingable piece 30 is pivoted on a pin 41 provided with a cotter pin46, said pin 41 being journalled in ears 39 and 40 on element 3.

Patented May 26, 1970 fined by a nut 37 threaded on the rod 35 tocompress andv hold the compressed spring on the rod 35.

A screw and nut, 47 and 48, respectively, are threaded in the end ofelement 3 to limit the downward motion of the element 8 imparted theretoby swingable piece 30.

When it is desired to attach the ski boot to the ski, the toe may beengaged first and the tip of the ski pole may then be inserted in thesocket 31 in element 30, the cover 32 having been first raised toprovide access to the socket 31.

The element 30' is then rocked to its desired position as shown in FIG.4, the heel of the boot moved under the arcuate heel engaging element 8and the element 30 released so that it will be urged back by spring 36to its upright position as shown in the solid lines in FIG. 4. Theelement 8 will then be exerting a downward and forward pressure on theski boot, and this will be maintained by the action of the spring 36against the nut 37 on shaft 35 which is pivoted at 38 in element 30 torock the latter to its forward position.

If it is desired at any time to adjust the longitudinal relationshipbetween the toe unit and heel unit prior to use, screws 6 can be backedoff and the heel element slid forwardly or backwardly to the limits ofthe slots 42 and 43 and the screws again set. This possibility isillustrated in FIG. 5.

It will be seen from the above, when the units are in use, any force,either horizontal or vertical which may cause injury to the wearer of aski boot will, if greater than the spring force initially set the unitswill cause same to move upwardly and in the case of the toe unitlaterally also to release the afiected boot from the binding.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have provided a binding whichis light in weight, of simple construction and easily adjustable to aproper fit for any size boot.

Since it is evident that changes may be made in the form, constructionand arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scopeof my invention, I do not intend to be limited to the specificembodiment herein shown and described, except as set forth in theappended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A ski binding comprising the combination with a ski of a toe piecebase, a single toe piece pivoted directly on said base for horizontalmotion with respect to said base, means for maintaining the toe piece innormal operative position, and a single toe engaging piece pivotallymounted on said toe piece for vertical movement with respect thereto,adjustable means normally biasing said toe engaging piece downwardly,means in said toe engaging piece for receiving manual means for rockingsame into and out of toeengaging position, a heel piece adjustablymounted on said ski, a heel engaging piece rockably mounted on said heelpiece for vertical arcuate motion with respect thereto, adjusting meansnormally biasing said heel engaging piece downwardly and toward said toepiece, and means in said rockable piece for receiving manual means torock said piece in the desired direction.

2. The combination according to claim 1 in which the toe engaging pieceis fixed to the toe piece.

3. The combinationaccording to claim 1 in which the adjustable meansnormally biasing said toe engaging piece downwardly comprise anexpansion spring mounted at one end in the toe piece and pivoted on thetoe engaging piece.

4. The combination according to claim 1 in which the adjusting meansnormally biasing the heel engaging piece downwardly and toward said toepiece comprise an expansion spring on a rod based at one end in saidheel piece and said rod pivoted at the other end in said rockable heelengaging piece. 1

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,573,955 11/ 1951 Cubberley.2,851,278 9/ 1958 Berlenbach. 2,867,447 1/ 1959 Mueller. 2,981,547 4/196 1 Taggart. 3,325,178 6/ 1967 Reuge et al.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,418,671 10/ 1965 France. 1,470,835 1/1967 France.

584,108 10/ 1958 Italy.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner J. A. PEKAR, Assistant Examiner

